ionosonde
(aɪˈɒnəʊsɒnd)
[f. iono- + sonde.]
An instrument for obtaining information about the ionosphere by transmitting a succession of radio pulses into it at different frequencies and recording their echoes.
| 1955 Sci. Amer. Sept. 128/2 The instrument used to explore the ionosphere is called an ionosonde. 1962 Flight International LXXXI. 681/2 The 95 (US) tons of water ballast was released by explosion of the vehicle at a height of about 65 miles 160 sec after lift-off, and a large white cloud of ice particles was formed... Observations were made by ground-based cameras, aircraft at various altitudes, ground radars and ionosondes. 1971 New Scientist 18 Mar. 598/2 Reflections of a swept-frequency pulse of radio waves by the ionosphere — the ionosonde technique — provide information about the distribution and density of its constituent electrons. 1972 Science 5 May 464/1 Lightweight ionosondes have been placed in satellites. |